Redknapp: McClaren set for Derby job

Former England manager Steve McClaren is set to be announced as the new manager of English second-tier club Derby County later Monday, according to Queens Park Rangers' boss Harry Redknapp. McClaren, 52, has been working under Redknapp since July and has helped west London side QPR to the top of the second-tier Championship. Derby are currently without a manager after Nigel Clough was sacked on Saturday following a 1-0 defeat by bitter local rivals Nottingham Forest. "I would think there is a good chance we could lose him and I will be very sorry to see him go," Redknapp said of McClaren in an interview with talkSPORT radio on Monday. "He has done a great job for me. He's been excellent; he's a top class coach. Absolutely top class." McClaren played for Derby and made his name as a coach with the Rams under Jim Smith before working as an assistant to now-retired Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson. As a manager in his own right, McClaren guided Middlesbrough to League Cup glory and won the Dutch title with FC Twente. But the 52-year-old remains best-known in his own country for an 18-month spell in charge of England that culminated in the national side's failure to qualify for the 2008 European Championship finals. Clough had been the longest-serving boss in the second tier, but the former Forest, Liverpool and England striker's four-and-a-half year reign came to a shock end following the loss at his former club. Derby's defeat left the team in 14th place in the table, seven points off the play-off places, and the Rams' board felt they had to act now before a challenge for promotion to the Premier League was beyond them. The 47-year-old's side had failed to win at home in the league this season, losing three of their four fixtures. They seemed to be on the up after a 5-1 rout of Millwall at The Den in early September, but a run of three successive defeats in eight days has cost Clough his job at the club where his father Brian famously won the English top-flight title as manager in 1972. Source: AFP